''Walk Under Ladders'' is the seventh

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the British singer-songwriter

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading (, born 9 December 1950) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her first major commercial success came with her third and fourth albums, '' Joan Armatrading'' (1976) and '' Show Some Emotion'' (1977), a ...

, released on 4 September 1981 by

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

. The album peaked at No. 6 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and was certified Gold by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. The album peaked at No. 16 in Australia. Two minor hits from the album both fell just short of cracking the UK Top 40: " I'm Lucky", which peaked at No. 46, and "

No Love "No Love" is a song by American rapper Eminem featuring Lil Wayne. It was originally released on June 18, 2010 as a track from Eminem's seventh studio album ''Recovery (Eminem album), Recovery'', before being released as its third single from t ...

", which peaked at No. 50.

Background

The album was produced by

Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite (born 15 March 1955) is an English record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts The Alarm ...

. Five tracks from the album were released as singles; "I'm Lucky", "When I Get It Right", "No Love", "I Wanna Hold You" and "The Weakness in Me".

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

plays most of the

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

parts on the album and

Andy Partridge Andrew John Partridge (born 11 November 1953) is an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and record producer best known for co-founding the band XTC. He and Colin Moulding each acted as a songwriter and frontman for XTC, with Partridge writing a ...

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...

provides guitar on two tracks from the album. The album was reissued by

Cherry Pop "Cherry Pop" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Alexandra Stan for her second studio album ''Unlocked (Alexandra Stan album), Unlocked'' (2014). It was made available for music download, digital download on 28 May 2014 through Roton (label), R ...

in 2010 featuring three bonus tracks.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Joan Armatrading. Side one #" I'm Lucky" – 3:05 #"When I Get It Right" – 3:03 #"Romancers" – 3:48 #"I Wanna Hold You" – 3:46 #" The Weakness in Me" – 3:33 Side two #

" – 3:58 #"At the Hop" – 3:26 #"I Can't Lie to Myself" – 3:23 #"Eating the Bear" – 2:59 #"Only One" – 4:15 Bonus tracks on the 2010 reissue #

"Shine" – 3:48 #"Dollars" – 3:28 #"Crying" – 3:23

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Walk Under Ladders'' liner notes. *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

(on "I Wanna Hold You", "At the Hop" and "I Can't Lie to Myself"),

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

(on "Only One") *

Hugh Burns Hugh Burns may refer to:- * Hugh Burns (footballer, born 1965), Scottish football defender for several clubs, including Rangers and Kilmarnock * Jock Burns (Hugh Burns, 1894–1963) Scottish football centre-half for several clubs, including Rochdal ...

– guitar (except on "When I Get It Right", "I Can't Lie to Myself" and "Eating the Bear") *

– guitar on "The Weakness in Me" and "Eating the Bear" *

Kirby Kirby may refer to: Buildings * Kirby Building, a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, United States * Kirby Lofts, a building in Houston, Texas, United States * Kirby Hall, an Elizabethan country house near Corby, Northamptonshire, England * Kirby Ho ...

– guitar on "When I Get It Right" and "I Wanna Hold You" *Gary Sanford – guitar (on "When I Get It Right", "Romancers", "At the Hop" and "I Can't Lie to Myself"), backing vocals (on "When I Get It Right" and "No Love") *

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(except on "I Can't Lie to Myself"), stick on "Eating the Bear" *

Robbie Shakespeare Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare (27 September 1953 – 8 December 2021) was a Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer, best known as half of the reggae rhythm section and production duo Sly and Robbie, with drummer Sly Dunbar. Regarded as on ...

– bass guitar on "I Can't Lie to Myself" *

Nick Plytas Tom Robinson Band (TRB) are a British rock band, established in 1976 by singer, songwriter and bassist Tom Robinson. The band's debut single "2-4-6-8 Motorway" was a top five hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1977, and their third single, "Up Ag ...

–

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

on "The Weakness in Me", synthesizer on "No Love" *

–

s (except on "No Love") *

Mel Collins Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician. Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from ...

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

on "When I Get It Right" and "No Love" *

Dick Cuthell Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with the SpecialsStrong, M ...

–

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

on "Romancers" * Rico Rodriguez – horn on "Romancers" *

Ray Cooper Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...

–

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* Julian Diggle – percussion on "At the Hop" *

Jerry Marotta Jerome David Marotta (born February 6, 1956) is an American drummer who resides in Woodstock, New York. He is the younger brother of Rick Marotta; Rick is also a drummer and composer. Career Marotta was a member of the bands Arthur, Hurley & ...

– drums (except on "I Can't Lie to Myself"), vocals on "No Love" *

Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Biography Dunbar began playing at 15 in a ba ...

– drums on "I Can't Lie to Myself" *

–

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

on "When I Get It Right" and "No Love" * Clark Peters – vocals on "Eating the Bear" Production and artwork * Steve Lillywhite – producer * Steve Brown –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

* George Chambers – assistant engineer * Michael Ross –

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

* Michael Ross – cover

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

* Simon Ryan – cover design * Tony McGee – front cover; inner sleeve

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

* Graham Hughes – back cover; inner sleeve portrait

Sales and certifications

References

External links

* 1981 albums Joan Armatrading albums Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite A&M Records albums {{1980s-pop-album-stub